Cuckmere Pathfinder Project Board

Cuckmere Estuary – Post Pathfinder meeting. Meeting Minutes (6th October 2011)

Location: Pump Barn, Seven Sisters Country Park

Present: Andy Robertson - AR Richard Mann - RM Des Abbott – DA Rodney Castledon – RC Joanna Newton – JN Phil Belden – PB Tezel Bahcheli - TB Jill Rosser – JR Michael Ann – MA Steve Ankers – SA Graham Kean – GK Chris Wick – CW Mark Lamb – ML Rob Cunningham – RC Zara Luxford – ZL Mike Murphy – MM Councillor Stephen Shing - SS

In Attendance: Andy Arnold – AA Peter Amies – PA Tom Schindl – TS

Apologies: Carolyn McCourt - CM Jane Cecil - JC Tony Whitbread – TW John Foxley – JF Alan Edgar – AE Councilor Jon Freeman – CJF Elaine Webster - EW

Agenda point Action Due 1. Minutes of the previous Project Board meeting (26/7/11)

Correction: the EA spent approximately £50,000 – £60,000 p.a. on AA Done maintenance of the estuary prior to April 2011, not £5,000 – £6,000.

Otherwise, the minutes were agreed as a true and accurate record. The National Park Authority: is developing its Management Plan, and the consensus view achieved through the Pathfinder project will help to inform the Plan.

Engineering costs: PA to provide a link to the Motts McDonald report PA Oct.

1 Agenda point Action Due that was used to determine the potential maintenance costs for the flood defences within the Cuckmere estuary.

Meeting with the Minister: AR will continue to pursue a meeting. AR 2. Engineering requirements & costs to maintain the flood defences, & funding opportunities

The key objective of the existing EA flood risk management strategy is to avoid flooding upstream of the estuary, by keeping the mouth of the estuary free-flowing. To do so the EA will, if needed:

- carry out re-planking of the training walls (but not carry out major repairs), and minor works to the groynes; - Clear shingle from the river mouth (but not necessarily recycle this on to the west beach, if this isn’t practical).

If the training walls become damaged beyond minor repairs then the PA EA would remove them, to reduce the risk of flooding upstream, and would then keep the mouth clear by the most cost-effective means possible, until the mouth became self-cleansing.

Funding is theoretically available to the EA for up to 15 years from 2011 to carry out this work, by which time the assumption within the Strategy is that the river mouth would be self cleansing.

The Strategy does not envisage the EA carrying out any repairs if there’s a breach of the beaches or the river banks.

No current funding stream will pay for the total estimated cost of £480,000 for replacing the flood defences within the estuary.

Need to clarify:

1. when the training walls might fail; PA 2. whether the cost of repairing or re-building the training walls is PA likely to be less than the cost of having to keep clearing the river mouth once the training walls are no longer in place to keep the shingle from the west and east beach out of the mouth; 3. what ‘maintaining the defences’ entails, over and above what Task & the EA will carry out to keep the river mouth clear; finish 4. whether the EA’s current budget to keep the river mouth clear CW can be used as match funding; 5. what costs the Flood Risk Management Strategy took into CW & AA account (eg. Potential damage to the A259?), as the full picture of costs and benefits needs to help inform the business case

2 Agenda point Action Due that’s put forward to funders; 6. which organisations have what responsibilities and liabilities AA within the estuary; 7. what contingency budget is required, in case a breach occurs. Task & finish Task & finish working group (CW / PA / RM / GK / AA) to be set up to:

1) determine prioritised list of actions required; 2) associated costs; 3) cost-benefit of the actions.

If anyone else would like to join the group then please contact AA ALL asap.

The output from the task & finish group can then be used to inform the discussion with DEFRA, and possible funding via the Coastal Communities Fund, which is expected to open for business later this year. 3. Friends of Cuckmere:

All agreed that:

1. the proposed ‘Friends of Cuckmere’ should seek to combine with the proposed ‘Friends of Seaford Head Nature Reserve’, to form a larger, non-political community-based network. MA to propose this at the Nature Reserve’s AGM next week and report back. A letter will then be sent to all those who signed up to join TS Nov. the ‘Friends of Cuckmere’ by the end of the year to find out what they would like the group to do and what they can bring to the group. 2. the existing post-Pathfinder group has a responsibility to maintain the momentum gained under the Pathfinder project and so will continue to meet in its current form. The group will aim to remain flexible enough to evolve as required, for instance to develop a formal constitution and elect a chair.

4. Next steps:

1. the task & finish group to aim to complete the tasks listed above Task & Oct. within the next month. finish 2. meeting with DEFRA to be arranged once the task & finish AR Nov. group has completed its tasks, but at the right time to aim to influence the development of DEFRA’s Coastal Communities Fund.

3 Agenda point Action Due 3. MA to pursue the establishment of a joint ‘Friends of’ with the MA Oct. Nature Reserve, to be followed by a letter to prospective members before the end of the year. 4. next meeting: possible dates to be circulated for mid November. AA Oct.

5. AOB:

DA & PA to discuss damage to sheet piling in front of the Coastguard DA & PA Asap cottages.

Any information on the possible causes of a recent large-scale pollution ALL Asap incident in the Cuckmere river to be provided to CW.